1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protective headgear and, more, particularly, to a device which facilitates the removal of a helmet face mask.
2. Description of the Related Art
The need for protective headgear in certain sporting events is well recognized. In many events, such headgear typically includes face masks. For instance, football and lacrosse players, to name just a few, generally wear helmets with face masks.
Despite the use of such protective headgear, the frequency of serious head, neck and spinal injuries has increased over the past several years. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for such injuries to be accompanied by respiratory complications or cardiac arrest. In such instances, immediate access to the player's face is vital. Thus, removal of the player's helmet or face mask will be necessary.
However, upon occurrence of such injuries, it is also vital that the player's head and neck be immobilized so that normal alignment of the cervical spine may be maintained and further injury prevented. Thus, removal of the player's helmet is usually not an option. Consequently, the attending medical personnel will usually attempt to remove the face mask attached to the helmet to provide the necessary access to the player's face.
Unfortunately, quick removal of prior art helmet face masks, while maintaining the stability of the player's head and neck, is virtually impossible due to inherent deficiencies in the design and construction of such helmets. Specifically, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,774,729, 4,233,687, 4,363,140 and 4,390.995, face masks are typically secured to the helmets with rivets, bolts or other similar permanent fasteners. Consequently, removal of the face mask requires extraction of the rivets or bolts from the helmet, which must be done carefully and slowly in order to avoid movement of the player's head and neck during such removal.
As an alternative to removing the rivet or bolt from the helmet, the clips holding the face mask in place on the helmet may themselves be cut to remove the face mask. However, this requires the use of some sort of heavy bolt or wire cutter and the exertion of a fairly large force to cut through each clip, which is time consuming and difficult to accomplish without causing movement and further trauma to the player's head.
Over the past several years, efforts to improve the design and construction of helmets and face masks have focused predominately on means to release the face mask from the helmet upon being grabbed and twisted, so that the risk of injury to the player's head and neck may be diminished. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,885,807, 5,502,843, 4,947,490, 4,985,938 and 4,271,537 illustrative a few of the many inventions designed for such purpose. However, these devices have not been widely accepted because they result in the face mask being removed from the player's helmet while play continues, which is generally not desirable.
Although such devices enable the face mask to be removed, their use is not practical in situations for which Applicant's invention has been developed. Specifically, if a player has sustained a neck, head or spinal injury, twisting or yanking the face mask in an effort to remove it from the helmet will most likely cause further injury to the player and, consequently, is certainly not an option. Thus, although these prior art patents permit the face mask to be quickly released from the helmet, they do so in a manner not useful to address the problem specifically identified and addressed by Applicant's invention.
The prior art fails to recognize the problem discovered by Applicant and, consequently, there is no suggestion or motivation for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify any of the prior art devices in the manner disclosed by applicant's invention or in any other manner which might address this problem. Such lack of disclosure, suggestion or teaching in the prior art supports the conclusion that part of applicant's invention is the discovery of the problem, that is, the need for a face mask capable of being quickly removed from a helmet while maintaining the helmet in a generally stationary condition.
Thus, there is still a need in the art for a face mask capable of being quickly removed from a helmet while maintaining the helmet in a generally stationary condition. Any such device should be easy to use and should be capable for use with newly manufactured helmets as well as existing helmets. The present invention is particularly suited to overcome those problems which remain in the art in a manner not previously known.